Victor Reyes, Riley Greene hit back-to-back homers as Detroit Tigers walk-off Royals, 4-3

Riley Greene drilled a leadoff triple to straightaway center field.

The ball was hit with a 105.7 mph exit velocity, traveled 413 feet and would've been a home run in 22 ballparks. The rookie immediately scored on Javier Báez's sacrifice fly in the first inning.

But Greene saved the big fireworks for the ninth inning.

"That's the most excited I've seen the dugout in a while," manager A.J. Hinch said.

The 21-year-old blasted the second pitch he saw from Kansas City Royals right-handed reliever Joel Payamps with one out in the ninth. This ball was hit with a 108.4 mph exit velocity and traveled 432 feet to the shrubs in center field, giving the Detroit Tigers a walk-off 4-3 victory over the Royals at Comerica Park.

"I didn't really know if it was going to go because of the hit in the first inning," Greene said. "I barreled that one up, and I was like, 'How didn't that get out?' But I hit it good. I was running decently hard down the line, just in case, but once I saw it go out, it was awesome. The adrenaline rush going through me, I didn't know what to do."

Greene's homer — the first of his MLB career — followed a game-tying blast to right-center from Victor Reyes off Payamps, negating what was otherwise a frustrating performance for Tigers bats against struggling left-handed starter Kris Bubic and the Kansas City bullpen.

Both Reyes and Greene clobbered second-pitch fastballs.

The Tigers ended a game with back-to-back home runs for the first time since September 9, 1952.

"Two really big swings on the second day in a row where we've had plenty of opportunities and couldn't get the big hit," Hinch said. "Those were two big ones. That was really fun. It was fun to see our guys let loose. I think we made it through without anyone getting hit by the Gatorade jug. It's a big win, a nice win."

The win put the Tigers at 30-46 and restored their two-game lead over the Royals (28-48), in the cellar of the American League Central. Detroit failed to put a runner on base in the seventh and eighth innings before its sudden rally.

Greene finished 2-for-4 with a home run, triple, walk and strikeout. He scored three of the Tigers' four runs.

In 12 MLB games, Greene is hitting .302 with three extra-base hits, three RBIs, 10 walks and eight strikeouts. He has a .434 on-base percentage and .442 slugging percentage, for an .876 OPS.

"I was not anxious at all," Greene said about the anticipation for his first home run. "Homers are going to come. If you try to hit homers, you're not going to swing the bat good. I'm just focusing on me, my swing and my approach, and sticking to that. Homers will come when they do."

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Entering Saturday's start, Bubic had a 7.45 ERA with 23 walks and 33 strikeouts in 38⅔ innings this season.

He posted a 4.62 ERA through five starts in June.

Against the Tigers, Bubic allowed two runs on five hits and three walks with four strikeouts in 4⅔ innings. He recorded 10 swings and misses: five fastballs, two curveballs and three changeups.

"We were giving ourselves as many chances as we could," Hinch said. "You can only say that so many times two days in a row without it being the same story. But I think it was fine. We were just continuing to try to put up really good at-bats."

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In the first inning, right-hander Beau Brieske loaded the bases after facing four batters: Whit Merrifield (single), Andrew Benintendi (walk), Bobby Witt Jr. (flyout) and Vinnie Pasquantino (walk).

Pitching coach Chris Fetter emerged for a mound visit.

On the next pitch, Hunter Dozier smacked a fastball into left field for a two-run double. Dozier put the Royals ahead 2-0, but Brieske answered by recording the final two outs without further damage, including a strikeout of MJ Melendez with his changeup.

Brieske fired 27 pitches in the first inning.

"The first inning was ugly," Hinch said. "He had a hard time throwing strikes."

Brieske battles

After a messy first, Brieske locked in and carried the Tigers through the sixth inning. He didn't have a good feel for his slider, meaning he couldn't rely on that pitch as he typically does against right-handed hitters.

The 24-year-old threw 14 sliders.

He recorded just one whiff with his developing slider.

"I didn't have the command of the stuff that I'm usually able to go out there and execute with," Brieske said. "I was fighting myself mechanically. I wasn't getting on top of any of my off-speed (pitches), wasn't getting out front. I was flying open early and had to make that adjustment."

Brieske clawed through his 13th MLB start with a fastball-changeup mix, which aided him against lefties. For his 82 pitches (50 strikes), he tossed 40 four-seam fastballs (49%), 17 changeups (21%), 14 sliders (17%), nine two-seam fastballs (11%) and two curveballs (2%).

Brieske — bouncing back from his 27-pitch first inning — needed nine pitches for three outs in the second inning. He worked around a walk and a single for a 13-pitch third inning. 

"It was nice to find a rhythm and keep the team in the game," Brieske said. "That's really all you are trying to do as a starter. You're trying to keep the team in the game and give them a chance to win. The fact that we were able to win, it was really satisfying."

He allowed three singles in the fourth, including a line-drive RBI single to Merrifield. Michael A. Taylor, who opened the frame with a single and advanced to third base on Nicky Lopez's single, scored for a 3-1 Royals advantage.

Most importantly, Brieske finished strong.

He retired the final eight batters he faced: two in the fourth, all three in the fifth and all three in the sixth. Brieske dominated the Royals during his third time through the lineup and tossed six pitches in the sixth inning.

Brieske gave up three runs on six hits and three walks with three strikeouts in six innings.

"He's always bounced back," Hinch said. "I think it speaks to how he approaches every inning as its own little challenge. I'm proud of him for that."

Keeping it close

The Tigers scored their second run in the fifth inning, sparked by Greene's full-count walk. Miguel Cabrera moved him up to third base with a slow-rolling, two-out single into right field.

Greene scored on Eric Haase's single, cutting the Tigers' deficit to 3-2.

An opportunity to jump in front appeared in the sixth inning, when the Tigers turned to pinch-hitter Spencer Torkelson — replacing lefty Kody Clemens — to face left-handed reliever Amir Garrett with a runner on base and one out.

Torkelson popped out in foul territory, but Reyes extended the inning with a walk. Greene then struck out looking on a full-count fastball from Garrett that ended up below the strike zone.

As for the Tigers' bullpen, right-hander Alex Lange and left-hander Andrew Chafin pitched perfect seventh and eighth innings, respectively. Lange racked up two strikeouts; Chafin struck out the side.

Righty Joe Jiménez tossed a perfect ninth without a strikeout.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers walk-off Kansas City Royals on Reyes, Riley Greene HRs